TO THE

CONGREGATION

OF

ST. JOHN'S CHAPEL.

MY MOST RESPECTED FRIENDS:

THE following Discourse, preached on the late General Fast, would not have been made more public, but at your particular request. The exemplary conduct of the Volunteers, who assembled with us on that Day of Humiliation, could not escape your notice; and their unanimous thanks, communicated to me by their Lieutenant-Colonel, cannot but afford me satisfaction: but your written request, signed by names of such consideration, must have with me the force of a command.

I must, indeed, forget myself, before I can forget the marked attention which you have paid, both to my ministerial labours and to my personal interests; and I embrace this occasion of express

1

ing my sincere regret, that a long and painful disease has prevented my having a nearer intercourse with you than from the pulpit or the press. Such unavoidable seclusion, however, shall not prevent the exercise of my best efforts and fervent prayers for your welfare; nor my continuing to remain through life,

Your faithful

and affectionate Servant,

RICHARD CECIL.

THE SWORD OF THE LORD.

JER. xlvii. 6, 7.

O thou Sword of the Lord, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? Put up thyself into thy Scabbard: rest, and be still. How can it be quiet, seeing the Lord hath given it a charge against Ashkelon?

WHEN called to address an Armed Association on a former occasion, I felt it my duty to consider the lawfulness and expediency of such an Association. I then endeavoured to prove, that if, like David, you had quitted for a time your more peaceful occupations to wield the sword, you were warranted, in present circumstances, to repel any objection by replying with him "Is

THERE NOT A CAUSE?"

I trust the arguments then adduced for the necessity of your recourse to arms, need neither to be repeated nor enforced. The same cause still exists; and that, with accumulated aggravation; and I must add, that you have a claim both upon the gratitude and upon the assistance of your fellow-citizens, in this laudable effort.

The present occasion, however, of our assembling, is that of humbling ourselves before God on a National Fast. Such an occasion is very distinct from the former. On the former, we might, with propriety, discuss the measure of employing the sword as a necessary expedient: but, on a day like this, we are naturally led to deplore it as a judgment; to tremble before Omnipotence in arms; and to remember that the Almighty has expressly described War as one of his four sore judgments: Ezek. xiv. 21.

While, therefore, as rational creatures, we adopt the means of security which the times so imperiously demand, let me call your attention, on a day of appointed humiliation, to some general reflections on The Sword of the Lord.

In this passage of Scripture, we have a prophetical denunciation of Jeremiah against the Philistines, before Pharaoh smote Gaza. The Prophet foretels an appointed invasion, shortly to overwhelm a nation which added to its other crimes a bitter enmity to Israel. He then describes some of its dreadful effects; but, recoiling at the horrors which he foresaw, he seems to shrink from his own message, and thus utters the feelings of his heart:-O thou sword of the Lord, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? ·Put up thyself into thy scabbard: rest, and be still. Recollecting, however, that it was the sword of the LORD, and that it had a special commission

to execute his righteous judgment, he adds, How can it be quiet, seeing the Lord hath given it a charge against Ashkelon?

In speaking to you on this subject, I shall contemplate the Sword of the Lord as A SORE JUDGMENT AN APPOINTED AVENGER-and A SOLEMN MONITOR.

I. A SORE JUDGMENT.

In a single division of this discourse, I can but glance at the dispensation; yet I cannot help stopping to mark the illusion that is over our minds, while distant from the actual seat of war. We coolly demonstrate its necessity: we sit at ease and in plenty, hearing only its rumours: the sound of its thunder, because distant, loses its terror. The Ambitious, on a victory, swell at the idea of national aggrandizement: the Politician reclines by his fire, drinks his wine, and feels somewhat disappointed, if his paper brings no account of a hard fought battle: the Idle wander to a review, and are entertained with the glitter of arms, the melody of martial music, and "all the pomp and circumstance of glorious war;" but how little do they reflect to what unutterable woe such preparation tends!-like infants, who admire the polish and workmanship of their father's sword; but consider not that it is formed to be a weapon of death, and drawn to be bathed in blood.